IT’S THE SMALL THINGS
By ALEX M. EDUQUE
Alex Eduque
I guess I will be writing quite a bit about this now that much of our everyday lives has changed. Luzon has been put under enhanced community quarantine as the government wants us all (with the exception of front liners and essential personnel) to stay home. To say that things have been put on hold and a sudden halt – not only in the Philippines – is quite accurate. Working from home these days, newly closed borders, travel and movement restricitons, new rules, regulations, and sadly, learning about new cases and deaths on a daily basis has quickly become the new normal – for the next month at least, for most of us, that is.
To say that it is stressful to most would be an understatement. For one, no one thrives or yearns for uncertainty. These days, we almost live on a day-to-day basis. While we have a general trend of things going, how fast everything has happened in the past few days – from a community quarantine, to an enhanced community quarantine -- the evolution of rules in the midst of it all is proof that we can never always accurately predict today what will happen tomorrow. The fear and the panic that ensues is as prevalent, and is as, if not more contagious than the virus. It has come to the point where people do not even know what to believe – conspiracies abound, fake news more rampant than ever, a lot of people deducing conclusions and opinions that get mistaken for fact. It is, at the very least, the strangest and most challenging of times that if you asked me just last month I would have never thought we would be in – and the rest of the world, at that.
Perhaps the forced rest is what we need, but more than anything, this whole quarantine has forced me to ponder upon some facts and realize things. For one, the only constant thing in this world is most definitely change. And if this world we live in today is not enough proof of that, I do not know what is. Second, that God has a greater plan for all of us regardless of what our plans may be. This pandemic is of biblical magnitude to say the very least, and the chaos it has caused in almost every corner of our world is one that provokes thought and reflecting. It places one too many things into perspective – it is an equalizer of sorts because regardless of social standing and status, it can affect anyone and everyone. Recent data on the deaths that have just occurred due to COVID-19 in our country at least has shown that some of even the wealthiest people have been victim; proof that money cannot buy you cure and health. There is definitely a greater hand from above who is placing things back into place for us, leaving us with no option, but to surrender – no commitments except to Him, first and foremost, ourselves, our loved ones, our greater community, and most especially, our world.
When life gets going, we tend to neglect and glance upon what is truly important. I believe this time – as unstable, fearful and unpredictable as it is – is a message from the heavens to help us get back to our roots, and delve into our inner most core. It is really the ultimate test of faith where we are left to just let go and let be. A lot of sacrifices big and small are being made left and right. But at the end of the day, if there is one take away from all of this, it is that we do not live life just for ourselves. We are all, simply, equal citizens of this earth, and equal investors. We must, therefore, all do our share. If this is the wrath of Mother Nature we have incurred, then, it is also up to us to take it upon ourselves to pacify that anger and heal those wounds. Now is the time to be a responsible citizen. Now is not the time to think we are above the law. Let us put aside the complaining for now, and think about how much help we can contribute to this world by simply obeying.